Adam and the Beginning of All Suffering

Series: Suffering Saints

Category: Suffering, Gospel, Creation

Speaker: Jason Williams

In our opening sermon of the Suffering Saints series, we looked at the suffering of Adam and how all suffering began with him. Genesis 2:15-17 describes how God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden and entrusted him with the responsibility of caring for it. God allowed Adam to eat freely from all the trees, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which would lead to death, but Adam and Eve were tempted by the serpent and disobeyed God’s command by eating the forbidden fruit. Because of their disobedience, God pronounced various ongoing judgements in Genesis 3:16-24 - the serpent would crawl on its belly, there would be pain for women in childbirth, husbands and wives would now turn against one another, and man would have to toil and work hard for sustenance. Adam and Eve were then banished from the Garden of Eden and God placed cherubim with a flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of life, ensuring they would no longer have access to it and would live forever in their fallen state. Since the time of God's initial judgement toward Adam and Eve, God has been patiently bearing with the objects of His wrath. Instead of unleashing His wrath, God has freely given His grace and kindness toward mankind, first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. In His love, God is undoing the power of sin and death in us through our faith in the resurrection of Jesus.